In the manufacture of various types of telephone transmission equipment, cables of varying lengths are utilized to interconnect different electrical components of the equipment. Each cable is formed from two smaller cables, or wire bundles, bound together by a series of cable "binder" ties, with one of the wire bundles also being separately bound by a series of cable "memory" ties for identifying one wire bundle from the other wire bundle. Each cable also has a connector plug assembled to one end thereof, and free wires, for wire wrapping, at its opposite end.
In the past, the forming of these cables has been accomplished manually. For example, in one known procedure an operator mounted two lengths of a first wire bundle on an assembly board in parallel relationship, with a midpoint of the wire bundle lengths located at one side of the board, and applied the "memory" cable ties to the wire bundle. Two lengths of a second wire bundle then were similarly mounted adjacent the first wire bundle and the cable "binder" ties were applied about both wire bundles. The bound wire bundles then were removed from the assembly board and, starting from the midpoints thereof, wound into a coil to form a double-length cable package. Connector plugs then were attached to opposite ends of the cable package and the cable package was tested to insure that the connector plugs were properly wired to respective wires in the wire bundles. Subsequently, the cable package was cut at the midpoints of the wire bundles to form two cables each having a connector plug at one end and free wires, for wire wrapping, at its other end.
The foregoing procedure was undesirable for various reasons. For example, the cable was difficult for an operator to manipulate and mount on the assembly board, particularly where a large cable package containing long lengths of cable was involved. Further, the mounting of the wire bundles on the assembly board, applying the cable "memory" and "binder" ties to the wire bundles, and removing the bound wire bundles and coiling them into a cable package, was a tedious and time-consuming operation. It also was difficult to separate the two lengths of cable without unwinding both cable lengths, as a result of the wires of the cables becoming entangled with one another.
In another known procedure, a length of the first and second wire bundles were simultaneously wound about a first set of spaced winding posts extending from an assembly board. The winding posts were spaced such that a given number of windings of the wire bundles about the posts would equal a specified length of cable. A second length of cable connected to the first length of cable by an intermediate portion, then was formed by wrapping the wire bundles about a second set of winding posts positioned adjacent to the first set of winding posts. During the winding operations, the cable "memory" and "binder" ties were applied to the wire bundles. This procedure was undesirable essentially for the same reasons as noted above. Further, accuracy in each length of cable was dependent upon the operator properly counting the number of windings made about each set of winding posts, and the cable "memory" and "binder" ties frequently were not located properly on the wire bundles.
The U.S. Pat. No. 2,119,847 to K. Grube discloses apparatus for winding a strand upon a reel in coils of preselected lengths, wherein each wound coil is bound with band wires after the coil has been wound upon the reel. A plurality of extended coil confining fingers then are manually retracted so that the coil can be pushed along the reel, whereupon the confining fingers again are extended and a next coil is wound upon the reel. Similarly, the U.S. Pat. No. 4,078,735 to B. H. Klemer discloses apparatus for automatically winding a strand on a reel in separate spaced coils of preselected lengths, wherein a strand distributor is periodically shifted relative to the reel in response to a strand length counting mechanism.